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07/07/2013

UFOwatch: The Long Sleep

A woman knocked accidentally knocked down by Straker ten years ago wakes
from a coma- and reveals the existence of a major alien threat that could still
happen.

Catherine Fraser has had a full 24 hours – she ran away from home, met a
musician called Tim, experienced a bizarre pills induced trip in which he fell
off a roof, saw aliens making a bomb and kidnapping Tim, walked five
miles, was attacked by a passing motorist and then knocked down by Ed Straker’s
car. No wonder she decided to sleep for a decade! Her awakening is greeted by
SHADO’s assurance she is the `safe` hands of spooky Dr Jackson which is about
as un – safe as you can get. Moments later Straker is questioning her
with the vigour of a police inspector desperate to squeeze a confession, next
minute they are sharing a quiet chat in the gardens. All the while proceedings
are being watched by a person unknown. Except we know it’s Tim, don’t we?

"I'm sure they are Cheerios" "No, they have to be Corn Flakes."

Tony Barwick’s script is trying to convey some empathy between Straker
and Catherine based partly on the former’s guilt about knocking her down. This
works well thanks to well drawn performances by both Tessa Wyatt and Ed Bishop.
However Tim’s character is less believable from the off; indeed he must be the
only person ever moved on from Piccadilly Circus fountain which says something
about his singing. His re-emergence depends on the aliens somehow knowing that
Catherine would be run down and spend ten years in a coma but how would they know?
All this is so he can somehow get her to reveal where she hid the detonation
tool for the bomb they were planting. We are told about a similar bomb
exploding in Mexico so why do the aliens even bother? Why not just bring
another one?

If the logic of the episode falters, the delivery is more successful.
Catherine’s flashbacks which constitute about a third of the episode are
presented in sepia tones but when she takes the pills coloured lighting
and filters are used to impressive effect. She and Tim fall about the farm
bumping into the aliens and trying to dance with them like some bizarre pop
video. It is all very weird but fits in with the latter day style of the show
that has moved away from model shots and protocol towards something more
cerebral. If Barwick’s narrative fails to surprise- anyone whose seen the show
or indeed any tv sci-fi will know full well who the unseen figure is and indeed
how the episode ends- then it is director Jeremy Summers who manages to imbue
both the unlikely and predictable with enough style to carry the day.

Interestingly it is 1984 now according to dialogue which refers to the 1974 Mexico
incident as being ten years ago meaning we have travelled four years through
the fictional life of the series. This may explain the absence of some
characters in the later episodes and why key moments seem to have affected the
others less than you would expect. UFO was apparently shown in different
episode order depending on area and there are conflicting views on what is
actually the correct order. While elements of the show suggest it could be
shown randomly there are also moments when you can start to see a through
storyline that could link the episodes had the writers run with it. The
show’s concept would certainly suit on-going rather than separate storylines.

It’s a shame that a second season was never made that could have built on the
promising developments of some of the later episodes when it was if the
producers had finally started to see the show’s potential as a different series
rather than simply a live action version of earlier puppet shows. If
Gerry Anderson’s reputation lies in shows for children, UFO is the
closest he came to realising a more mature series that was grounded enough to
relate to the times in which it was made, something the later Space: 1999
could never quite manage. There are episodes of UFO that can stand up
with the best of 60s/ 70s telefantasy though there are others that are merely
passable today. None of it is that badly made and if you are going to watch an
Anderson series, this is definitely the one that you should try.